The Arkansas Tech volleyball team suffered its third consecutive defeat Tuesday, falling in three games to Missouri Southern in Joplin, Mo.

Missouri Southern (5-0) won the match 30-23, 30-22, 30-22. The Lions held Tech to a season-low .061 attack percentage while hitting .277.

"We just couldn't put it together all night," Tech volleyball coach Kristy Kale said. "We couldn't get our offense going. We played very slack."

The Golden Suns (2-3) started out strong, leading 15-14 in game 1 after a kill by Rebecca Baker.

But the Lions reeled off six consecutive points, aided by three Tech errors.

The Golden Suns got no closer than five points the rest of the way. Tech pulled within 28-23 on a kill by Natosha Saltus, but consecutive errors by Saltus and Baker ended the game.

Game 2 was less of a contest. Missouri Southern jumped out to a 10-3 lead and never looked back, leading by as many as 10 points down the stretch.

Game 3 ended with an identical score despite a stronger showing by the Tech. The Golden Suns led early on and trailed just 18-17 before the Lions pulled away, scoring 7 of its final 12 points on Tech errors.

"I think we've played pretty well," Kale said, "but when it comes down to crunch time, we seem to (commit) multiple errors at a time. We can't do that and be successful."

Kale said the culprit, at least in part, may be youth. Tech's 15-player roster features seven freshmen and six sophomores.

"Our freshmen are still getting used to the college game," Kale said.

Ashley Hill and Ashley Mehrer each had 10 kills for Missouri Southern, while Sarah Joles finished with 22 assists. Megan Norman had a team-high 10 digs.

Dana Florian and Rachael Urquhart had 7 kills each for Tech, while Baker finished with 6 kills and 7 digs. Kayla Allison had 31 assists.

The Golden Suns are next scheduled to compete in the Tusculum College Fall Tournament in Greenville, Tenn. Tech will face Concord University (W. Va.) and Brevard College (N.C.) on Friday and Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) on Saturday.

Kale is optimistic.

"I'm not down," she said. "I think we have a very bright future ahead of us."